Different
by now you see me
Summary: AU-"Easy. Your like us. You know, different? *Gifted*?" Ken's never been normal. Heck, he's not allowed to leave the house. But when a strange boy pops into his room, telling him his meds are evil, things really get out of hand..."Wait, WINGS?"
1. The wolf boy

The boy was flying.

It was the most wonderful feeling in the world, swooping through the clouds, dipping and diving and twirling. The feel of fresh air in his face, blowing his hair out of his eyes. He was alive. He was free.

_Free_

BANG BANG BANG!

"Ken! Ken, get out of bed! Now!" a women's voice screeched.

A dark haired boy of about 13 startled awake.

"Ken! If you're not down stares in the next five minutes you don't get breakfast!" The voice was shrill and commanding.

"Yes, Auntie." The boy, Ken, said. "I'll be right down."

He pulled himself out from under the light blanket and looked around his small attic bedroom.

_Another day..._ He thought to himself, a bit dejectedly. With a soft sigh, he began to get dressed.

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Good morning, Aunt Jen, Uncle Morry." Ken said respectfully, bowing slightly.

"Hello, Ken." His uncle said coolly. He was a tall, imposing man with an impressive crop of blond hair.

"You're late." His Aunt said snappishly. She was long and lanky with long, curly red locks.

"I'm sorry, Auntie." He whispered, eyes cast down. The way he held himself was almost servile, as if he had done something wrong and knew it. This seemed to satisfy Jen.

"Well, sit down, Boy!" She barked. Ken did as he was told. A bowl of watery oat meal was placed in front of him. He found his eyes wandering to the plates of his guardians, which were piled high with scrambled eggs, but he knew better than to ask for some. 'You can't', they'd say, then not explain why. It all had to do with his mysterious illness.

Ken gulped, gathering his nerve. He had been planning this all night, and it had to go perfectly.

"Uncle? Auntie?"

Both looked up.

"I was wondering...Ummm...If I could, maybe, go outside today?" he asked, hesitantly.

"No!" His aunt snapped "You know you can't go out! Your sick!"

"But I feel fine, really!" Ken protested. "And it's been so _long_ since I've been outside! Only for a moment, I promi-"

"Did you take your medicine today?" His uncle interrupted.

"No, not yet-" SLAM! Morry hit his hand ageist the table, creating a tremendous noise.

"Take your medicine and go upstairs, NOW!" He roared.

"Y-Yes, Uncle." Ken stuttered, then quickly retreated back up to his attic room.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Ken sat sadly on his bed, holding a red bottle and a cup of water in his hands. He had done this so many times before, but he never liked it much. A half a cap of the medicine mixed with a cup of water. Ken shuddered, then gulped it down very fast. He tried not to reach.

_How can this be MEDICINE when it only makes me feel worse? _He thought, unhappy.

The head-aches, the mussel pains, the burning thirst. He knew, somehow, they were from the medicine, not whatever sickness he had. Ken sighed again, and reached for a framed picture on his bed-side table. The thing was no doubt his most prized position.

Two adults, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, smiled into the camera. In front of them were two young boys, both with blue-black hair and bright blue eyes. The man had a shock of brown hair and laugh lines, and the women's honey blond curls framed her kind, round face. One boy was what looked like a three year old version of Ken himself, dark hair falling just past his chin. And next to him was an older boy, about 7, whose hair stood up willy-nilly, and whose sharp, intelligent eyes were framed by a pair of square rimmed glasses.

"Sam…" the boy whispered longingly, moving his thumb over the older boys form.

His mom and dad, the two in the picture, had died in a car crash about a month after this was taken. And he and Sam had been sent here, to live with their aunt and uncle. The first they had done to the brothers was force them to have blood taken, and when the tests came back they had said that both boys had a disease, and thus had ended their freedom. Ken hadn't had a decent meal, gone a day without taking medication, or gone outside since he was three years old. But all of that he could bear, because Sam was always with him. Always. Until…

Ken still shuddered at the thought of that horrible night when he was 9 years old.

After Sam had tucked him in, he had left the room to talk to Auntie about something. Then Auntie screamed then Uncle screamed then Sam screamed and ran back up to their bedroom and tried to barricade the door. But Morry was much stronger than the 13 year old, and broken it down. And he had dragged Sam away.

That had been the last time Ken had seen his brother.

His Aunt had come in the next day to inform him that Sam had needed emergency surgery due to the illness, and it had failed. He had died in the process.

He hadn't even been aloud out of the house for his big brothers funeral.

In fact, he wasn't even sure if Sam had _had_ a funeral.

Ken shook himself and placed the picture back on his bed side table. No use dwelling on the past now. He picked up a text book and started to read.

b..d..b..d..b..d

He was standing on a large, open plain, nothing in either direction for miles.

_Where…? _He thought vaguely.

_Why…?_

_How…?_

"Hello, Kenny." Said a voice from behind him. Ken stiffened. Only one person in the world (Out of the few people he had met) called him Kenny. He turned around slowly.

"…Sam?" Ken breathed.

It was defiantly his brother, in all his glasses, messy-haired glory. He stood serenely, with his hands behind his back, smiling slightly.

"Hello, little brother." He said.

"Sam! It really is you!" Ken gasped and ran towards him, but stopped as Sam raised his hand in a movement that quite clearly meant 'halt'.

"I'd love to stay and chat, little bro, but I don't have a lot of time. I need to tell you something."

"What?" The younger brother seemed confused.

"Listen." Sam walked up to Ken and placed his hands on his shoulders. Blue eyes bored into blue eyes. "Don't let them do to you what they did to me, got it?"

"Sam, what do you-"

"Just promise, OK?" Sam snapped fiercely

"I…I promise."

"Good." The older brother looked relived, then gave Ken a quick hug.

"I need to go now, Kenny Boy." Already, Sam seemed to be dissolving, as if he was made of sand and there was a strong wind blowing. "Oh, one last thing. Trust the wolf boy."

"No! Wait! Where are you going? What did you mean?" Ken cried desperately.

A laugh floated to the younger boys ears as if carried on the wind. "That's for me to know and you to find out, little brother."

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Gah!" Ken jerked awake, panting. His face felt sticky from using the text book as a pillow.

_Dream. It was a dream, was all._

Ken tried to convince himself of it. But he had never had such a real dream before. And what had Sam meant, 'don't let them do to you what they did to me?'

The boy snorted slightly. 'That's for me to know and you to find out.' What a _Sam_ thing to say.

He shook his head to clear it, than glanced at the clock. 12:30.

_Really? I mean, _seriously?

Ken thought. Time for more medicine. He reached for the bottle on his bed side table, but was distracted by a noise coming from his window. A tapping sound. Like someone was…Out there…

_No. You're being stupid. No one is there. It's the wind. _

But…Just to be safe…

Ken walked causally to the window, and slowly pulled back the curtain.

"Holy…!" He jumped back, mind racing. There _was_ someone there.

A boy about his own age, with a mess of red-brown hair held in places by, of all things, a pair of goggles. He had a very dark tan (A stark contradiction to Ken's sickly white pallet) and, at the moment, was grinning like he had just won the lottery and indicating that Ken should let him in.

_Don't open the window, Ichijouji. This is how all the horror movies start…_

Every ounce of good sense in his body was screaming at him to shut the curtain and yell for his uncle. But…Something was stopping him. This boy was the first human being besides his aunt, his uncle and his brother he had seen in ten years. And he was curious. So agented all instincts, he threw open the sash and pulled the window up.

The boy bounced in, all smiles as if they had known each other for years.

"Hi! You smell funny!" He said cheerfully.

"Uhhhh…" Ken smelled his shirt self-consciously. He had just taken a shower an hour ago. However, that was forgotten when he saw what the strange boy was doing. He was flitting around the room, sniffing everything.

"Who…Are you?" Ken blurted, then covered his mouth with his hand, realizing how rude that sounded. The boy, however, didn't seem to mind.

"Oh." He laughed. "My name's Davis."

"I'm, uh, Ken."

"Well, hi there, Ken!" The boy called Davis shook Ken's hand so hard, it felt as if it would fall off.

"And…Why are you here?"

"Well, my friends and I are staying nearby, and I caught your sent. You smell like one of us, so I followed it here."

"I…Smell…Like…_What?" _Ken looked absolutely lost.

"Like one of us!" Davis said, brightly, scratching behind his ears, which only increased his resemblance to a dog. "You know, different? _Gifted?"_

The dark haired boy had no idea what the other was talking about, so he decided to change the subject. "And I also smell…Funny?"

"Yeah." Davis's eyes darkened. "Unnatural. Like something's blocking your normal sent. Or trying to change it."

"Oh. That's, uh, weird?" There was an awkward silence, the Ken sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do now. I'm, er, not used to people."

"Why? You shy or something?"

"Not really. I'm not allowed out of the house."

Now Davis looked lost. "And why's that?"

"I'm 'sick'." Air quotes around the last word.

"But…You don't smell sick. Strange, yes, but not sick."

Ken looked sad. "I don't feel sick, either. At least, not until I take this." He held up the bottle with the medicine in it.

The reaction he got was unexpected, to say the least.

Davis let out a low, guttural growl, backing up slowly and never taking his eyes off the bottle. If he had had ears, they would have been lying flat ageist his head, and if he had fur it would have been standing on end. He bared his teeth.

"That thing is…it's…evil!" He snarled.

"What? This is just-"

"You don't _drink_ that, do you?"

Ken's eyes widened in panic. "Yes. Three times every day."

"It smells," Davis squinted, trying to find the right words. "Wrong."

"But it's going to make me better!"

"Does it make you _feel_ better?"

"Well, no, but-"

"My point exactly. Why do you-" The boy broke off suddenly, his head snapping up. "Someone's coming. I can hear them." He whispered.

"Uncle!" Ken hissed. "You need to get out, now!" Then the boy looked out the window. A four story drop with nothing near it to climb up. "Wait. How are you going to get down? You need to leave before he gets here."

"Same way I got up." He flashed a grin. "Jump."

Ken didn't ask for an explanation. There wasn't time. He quickly pushed Davis to the window. The boy climbed onto the sill.

"Wait." Davis looked Ken in the eyes, "I'll be back."

"You'll-"

"Be back, yes. After all, we're friends now, right?" Ken froze. He had a friend? "Oh, one more thing." Davis's face was serious. "Don't take that medicine."

"But-"

"Just promise, OK?" The boy at the window snapped fiercely. Ken was stuck with a strange sense of deja vu. Those were the same words Sam had said in his dream.

"I-I promise."

Davis nodded, then jumped out the window. He landed in an almost graceful crouch and bounded away on all fours.

Ken hurriedly shut the blinds, and managed to jump on his bed, picked up a text book (Opening it to a random page) and pretend to be reading before his Uncle came in.

"Ah, Ken. Studying again, I see. What are you up to?"

"Oh. Uh…" _Man, I'm really bad under presser _"Protean synthesis!" He blurted.

His uncle blinked. "But, that's an English text book."

"Oh. I mean, yeah, of coerce it is! I meant to say protean synthesis and how it influences… Shakespeare's 14th sonnet!" _Oh yes, I stink under presser…_

"O-_Kay _than_. _I'm just here to make sure you took your meds."

"I-" Ken hesitated. "Yes. I did."

"Oh. Good, I'll see you at dinner." And with that Morry left the room.

Ken's mind was a werl-wind of activity. One thought ran into another, creating a large mish-mash of thoughts and feelings. How was he supposed to _think_ with all these… Thoughts?

_What would Sam do? _Ken thought desperately. Well, that was easy. He would make a list. That was one thing the older Ichijouji swore by. In fact, if Sam had created a religion, the first commandment would be 'Make a list.'

_Okay. What do I know? _

_1)- I'm supposedly sick._

_2)-Sam was supposedly sick as well._

_3)- I just had an extremely strange dream in which my dead brother told me not to let them do to me what they did to him and to trust the wolf boy._

_4)-An equally strange boy came to my room, acting more like a puppy then a wolf, but was definitely canine._

_5)-He said I smell like I'm 'different', whatever that means._

_6)- He told me my meds were evil and not to take them._

_And 7)- The medicine makes me feel worse, not better. _

_Alright. And that brings me to the conclusion of…_

Ken reached down and plucked up the medicine bottle. He carried it to his small bathroom.

He couldn't say he didn't enjoy flushing the foul stuff down the toilet.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Davis continued running through the forest, still on all fours. He used his hands as if they were another pair of feet. He knew that if anyone saw him he'd get some funny looks, but he couldn't help it. It was just so much easier to run like this because of his gift.

Tai was going to kill him for sneaking away from camp. And he would have a hard time sneaking away tomorrow to see Ken again. But it seemed worth it. That kid needed a friend.

Davis smiled to himself and ran faster.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Ken stood in his small bathroom, in front of the mirror. It was about 9:30 pm, and he had just gotten out of the shower and changed into his pajamas. However, when in the shower, he had felt something itching and burning on his back. He slipped the gray shirt he slept in over his head and turned around, craning his neck to see in the glass.

On each of his shoulder blades, an angry red bump had appeared. And, oh, did they _itch_!

"A bite." Ken muttered to himself. "Not mosquito, though. Spider, maybe? Yeah, spider sounds right. I got two spider bites." He shook himself. He had been feeling strange since he missed that dose of medicine earlier today. Not bad, just a little odd.

The boy didn't bother to put his shirt back on, he was too tired. He curled up under his blanket. It had been a long, confusing, very, _very _weird day.

He happily dropped off in to the blissful darkness of sleep.

b..d..b..d..b..d

They were chasing him.

There were a lot of them, and they were chasing him.

Had he done something wrong?

No, he had done something _right_, and they just didn't like it. They wanted to change him back, trapped him again, put him in a cage.

_No._

There was a window in fount of him. He didn't hesitate, just jumped!

And then he was flying, soring, free.

_Free!_

But then there was a pain in his back, and he was falling, falling, falling…

"Oh!" Ken jerked himself awake, breathing hard. _That was the third time I've had a weird dream in 2 days…Is that normal?_

The boy checked his clock. 7:30. They ate breakfast at 8. He had enough time to shower and change, and maybe read a chapter of two of his mystery novel.

He walked briskly to the bathroom and leaned over to turn on the shower. Then stopped. He had caught sight of something in the mirror. No. It wasn't…Right?

Ken stood up slowly, and cautiously turned around to face himself in the glass. He froze.

"Oh, my…" He trailed off.

Ken stared at himself, pale and scared looking. That wasn't what was so strange. But what was-

A pair of purple, gossamer wings sprouted from his back. Like fairy wings stained with grape juice.

"Wha- When-How?" Ken spluttered. He was confused, yes. But, strangely enough, not scared in the least. This didn't hurt. In fact, this felt _good_. It was natural. It was _wonderful._

And then he felt a long forgotten memory tickling the back of his mind.

"_Sam? Sam, what are you thinking?" A nine year old Ken looked up at his brother._

"_Hum?" The older boy turned to look at him. "Oh. Hi, Ken."_

"_What are you thinking about?" Ken asked again._

"_I-" Sam broke off. "I'm not going to take the meds today." _

"_What?" The younger looked amazed. "But if Auntie finds out-"_

"_I just want to see what happens, Kenny-boy. She doesn't have to know unless something bad happens."_

"_Well…Alright, Sam."_

"_Hay, Kid?"_

"_Yes?"_

_Sam smiled. "Macro."_

_Ken felt a grin spread up his face at their special game. "Polo." He responded. _

_Later that night, as Morry dragged his brother away, their eyes met._

"_Marco." The elder mouthed. _

"_Polo." Whispered the younger through his tears. _

It clicked into place. After all these years, it finally made sense. Sam had stopped taking the medicine, and something like _this_ had happened. Maybe not wings, but something. And then he died because of…

Well, okay, maybe _everything _didn't make sense, but he knew more that before!

He reached back to touch the simmering wings. They were cool and smooth. He concentrated, and they fluttered ever so slightly. He wanted to stretch them out. He wanted to _fly_!

Then Ken gulped.

How was he supposed to hide this from his Aunt and Uncle?

b..d..b..d..b..d

Davis knelt on the ground in the woods, quickly tying the battered laces on his right shoe, then his left. He stood up, stretched slightly, then put his hands on the ground.

"On your mark," He whispered to himself, "get set, and g-"

"Where do you think you're going?"

Davis made a false start, causing him to fall head over heels and land on his butt.

"N-Nowhere! Just for a run!" Davis said as he turned around to see a boy taller than himself with a wild mop of deep brown hair. "Nothing bad, Tai, I swear!"

The boy called Tai looked at him disbelievingly. "Sure. I believe you, Davis. Now, tell me what you're really doing."

"Going for a run…"

Tai's face clearly said, 'continue'.

Davis sighed his defeat. "…To see that kid again."

The older boy shook his head. "Davis, I said not to go back there. You're putting us all in danger! If someone see's you and calls _them_, we're all in deep trouble!"

Davis squared his shoulders and stared straight into the others eyes. "So, what, you just want me to leave him there? He's one of us, I can tell, those people are doing something to him! He needs help, and I'm going to help him. Besides," He added, almost to himself, "I promised."

Tai's eyes softened. He laughed slightly. "You're too much like me for your own good, you know that? Fine, go to him."

"YES!" Davis cheered letting out a small bark of happiness, than covered his mouth, looking to see if he had waken anyone up. Seeing he hadn't, he got back into his runners position.

"Oh, and Davis?"

"Yes, Tai?"

"Don't do anything too stupid, okay?"

"You got it!" And with that the boy ran off.

Tai looked around their make shift campsite, and at the other sleeping figures of their little clan. _He'd better not get caught…_

b..d..b..d..b..d

Ken scrambled around his room in a panic. Right now he was dressed in an ancient pair of acid wash jeans, and a faded blue tee-shirt he had cut slits for his new wings in. But he couldn't very well go to breakfast like that, especially with what happened to Sam.

"What am I gunna do what am I gunna do what am I gunna do?" Ken hissed to himself. In desperation, he picked up the picture of his family.

"What would _you_ do?" He asked the Sam in the photo. Not that he expected to get an answer. But, strangely, he got one. Not in words, but in what his brother was wearing.

"A hoody!" Ken smiled. He went to his closet and pulled out the biggest, baggiest sweatshirt he owned. Wincing slightly, he folded his wings awkwardly and slipped it over his head. The clothing successfully hid them from sight.

Ken looked at his clock. "In 5…4…3…2…and 1…"

BANG BANG BANG!

"Right on cue." Muttered the boy.

"Ken! Ken, are you awake?"

"Yes, Auntie!" He called back, "I'll be out in a second!"

Ken took one last nervous look in the mirror and took a deep breath.

He really hoped this worked.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Ken scooped the watery oatmeal into his mouth as fast as he could without looking suspicious.

"Have you seen the news?" Asked Morry to Jen. "There've been some weird robberies-"

_Keep eating, Ken. You're almost done._

"Yes, I have." Sniffed Jen. "Low lives, all of them. The scum of the world."

_The only thing between you and your room if a few bites of oatmeal._

"I think we should upgrade are security system. I mean, if they were so close to here-"

_A little more than you're home free. One more bite, and…_

"Ken, Sit up!" Snapped his aunt.

_Uh-oh._ "I am sitting up, Auntie."

"No, your not. Your back looks all funny."

"But I am sitting up, Aunt Jen." Ken faked confusion, hiding his panic, and hoped she'd drop the subject. Of coerce, she didn't.

"Ken, don't play games with me! Sit up!" And then she did the worst thing Ken could think of. She reached over and touched his back. And froze.

"Boy!" She hissed, her voice deadly, "What's that?"

"N-Nothing! It's nothing, I swear!"

"Liar!" Jen shrieked, sounding high and shrill. "Morry, feel this!"

Before Ken could stop him, he had reached over and ran his fingers across his back. The man's eyes narrowed.

"Take off the sweatshirt." Morry whispered, poison in his voice.

"N-No."

"TAKE IT OFF!" His uncle roared.

"I WON'T!" Ken shouted right back.

Morry seemed to get an insane glint in his eye. He reached across the table and slowly picked up a very large, very sharp knife.

"Now, I'm going to give you one last chance. Take off the sweatshirt, _or else._"

Ken froze. He wouldn't really…Ken realized he really didn't want to find out. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled off the hoody. His wing unfurled from under it and gently flapped twice.

"Oh my…" His aunt whispered. However, his uncle had a more direct approach.

"AHHH!" He shouted, than lunged, aiming the knife at the wing closest to him. Ken barley managed to dodge, and had his upper arm nicked in the proses.

"Morry, stop." Jen said quietly.

"Jen, I won't have another in the house! I flat out refuse! Do you suggest we leave him like that?"

"No, but I don't want to be charged with murder, either." The woman's voice was eerily calm. "We'll call the doctor. The same one that did Sam. He should be able to fix him."

"Or the boy will…"

"Yes, he will."

Ken, sick of being spoken about like he was not there and overcome with emotion, spoke harshly. "What's going on? What are you talking about? What doctor? What happened to Sam?"

Morry completely ignored him, grabbed his arm and dragged him roughly up the stairs.

"Ow! Ow! Stop!" Ken cried, but was once again ignored. At the top of the stairs, the man through his bedroom door than slammed it shut. Ken heard the click of the lock. Desperate for answers, he pressed his ear to the door and listened.

"…Different than Sam's."

"…That's…Be expected."

"Will it work this time? I mean, it killed the other one…"

Ken couldn't take anymore. They had killed him. _They had killed his brother_. And now they were going to kill him, too.

_Don't let them do to you what they did to me. _'Thanks for the warning, Sam.'

Ken went to his closet and dug around in the very back and pulled out two backpacks. These where the original ones him and Sam brought when they first came here. He grabbed Sam's because 1)-It was bigger and 2)-His old one had Mickey Mouse on it. (What? He had been THREE!)

The boy darted around the room, bag in hand, stuffing things into it. The hoody (Which he had been holding this whole time), two changes of close, a pair of scissors, his mystery novel, and a notebook. All were hastily stuffed into the bag, along with several other random things.

He stopped and thought, and his wings responded. They stretched and fluttered, ready to fly. Ken took a deep breath, and headed for the window.

Only to find there was already someone there.

"Holy-" He exclaimed, jumping back. The he recognized the face. "Oh! Davis!"

He through open the window and the other boy climbed in.

"Told you I'd be-" Davis stopped as he took in the wings. "Wow! I knew you were one of us! Wings, that's a good one! One of my friends back at the camp has wings, but hers are more like bird wings. You know, with feathers and-What happened to your arm?" The boy's eyes had fallen on the deep gash on Ken's arm.

"My aunt and uncle." Gasped Ken. "There trying to kill me. They've already killed my brother, well not them but some doctor, and now they're going to do it to me! I have to leave. I'm already packed, so if you could move, I'll be going."

Davis's eyes widened as he grabbed hold of Ken's arm. "You're not going alone, are you?"

"Of coerce I am. What else would I do? I have nowhere to go."

The dog-boy looked at him as if he'd lost it. "You can come with me."

"What? Where?"

"There's a whole bunch of us. We kinda just move around a lot, but we're _all_ different. You know, gifted?"

"Is…Is that okay?"

"Of course it is! Now are you coming or what?"

"I-" Ken hesitated, but only for a moment. "I'm in."

"Great." Davis started to pull Ken twords the open window. "Hay, you ever used those wings before?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, you better learn quick."

At that moment, they both heard footsteps in the hall.

"Yes, he's in here-" Jen opened the door to see Ken standing by the window, with Davis on the sill. Behind her was an extremely creepy man Ken assumed was the doctor.

"He's getting away! Screamed Jen shrilly.

"Time to go!" Davis cried, then jumped out the window, once again landing in a crouch position.

"Right behind you!" Ken called back, when he felt a vice like grip on his arm.

"Oh no your not!" Jen had his arm in her grasp. Then Ken did what he had wanted to do since he was 9 years old. He punched his aunt full in the face.

The woman reeled back, clutching a nose bleed, and released Ken's arm. The boy didn't stop to think. He just jumped out of the window.

For one, terrifying moment, he was falling. Then his wings woke up, it seemed. The twitched, then fluttered, than flapped all out, carrying him on the wind on holding him above the ground.

He was flying.

"Come on! Follow me!" Called Davis, already running on all fours slightly ahead of him.

Ken ignored his aunt's screams from behind him. The fresh air he had missed so much hit his face, and he breathed the cool morning air. He flew after Davis as fast as he could, barely able to contain his excitement.

For the first time in 10 years, Ken Ichijouji was free.

_Free!_

**Well, that's chapter 1. Tell me what you think. Ken will meet the others next chapter. **

**Review, please! It boosts my confidence and makes me update faster! **


	2. Introductions and Explanations

Hi! I'm back! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and enjoy chapter 2!

As for the question of pairings…I'm not really sure. I'm terrible at writing romance (It always comes out like a corny Disney channel movie) so I'm thinking of putting hints of couples here and there, but nothing major. So, I'm sorry, but this probably won't be boy/boy, not because I have anything against it, but because romance just isn't my thing. I'm open to suggestions about the couples, but the one thing I WON'T write is Sora/Matt. Can't stand that. I really can't. I'd honestly rather write Sora with Joe than with Matt.

OK. Rant done. Read chapter 2. Review, pretty please?

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Davis!" An exhausted Ken gasped. "I need to stop."

"Why? We've only been running for four miles of so."

"Keep in mind I haven't exercised much and I'm still bleeding..."

"Oh. I guess we can stop for a little, than." Davis used his red tee shirt to wipe his face.

The two boys stopped and Ken leaned on a tree, breathing heavily. There was a few seconds of silence, then the winged boy started laughing. A high, breathy laugh that almost sounded insane.

"Uh, Ken? You alright?"

"Oh, yeah." Said boy gasped through his snorts. "I'm fine. My gardenias just tried to kill me, they already killed my big brother, and suddenly I can fly. Yes, I'm just _great_!"

Davis looked at his new friend with a look one might give an injured wild animal. "Sit down. I think you need to."

Ken slid down the trunk of the tree, his wings fluttering slightly, until he was sitting on the ground. He gasped several times; head berried in his hands, trying to regain his composer. Davis plopped down beside him. After a few minutes in silence, Ken spoke.

"Explain."

"What?"

"You owe me an explanation."

"Oh." Davis rubbed the back of his head "Well, you see...It all started...There are...Ugh, I can't do this. It gets way too complicated. This is Izzy's thing. Or even Tai's."

"Who are they?"

"Well, their-Oh, this part I can explain!- We're a…Well, we call it a clan. Like I mentioned, we're all different, and most of us have a pretty screwed up past."

"How about you?"

"Hum?"

"Do you have a-and these are your words, not mine-screwed up past?"

"Oh." Davis avoided eye contact. "I don't remember."

"You don't-"

"Amnesia." Davis explained, tapping the side of his head. "I can't remember a thing before the day Tai found me. I was in an ally, pretty beat up and crying my eyes out, talking some nonsense about finding a man who had the June. Which doesn't make sense because it was October."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Davis said with a little wave of his hand. "Anyway, as I was saying, we move around a lot. I can't think of a time we spent more than a week in one place. But, no one complains (Well, Mimi does, but that's just her) because we can't let _them _find us."

"_Them?_"

"Tai will explain that, too." The boy gave an involuntary shudder. "All you need to know about Them right now is if They find us, _bad things happen_."

"Oh. Okay."

"Back to what I was saying. There are 12 of us, 13 including you. Ages range from, let's see, Rosie's the youngest, Joe's the oldest… From 8 to 17. And there's also-"

"DAVIS!" A new voice called out.

Said boy leapt to his feet. "Uh oh." He muttered "I'm in trouble."

A tall, thin boy with the unhealthy look of someone who had grown a lot in a short amount of time burst into the clearing. He was older than them both, maybe 16 or 17, and had a head of blond hair cut rather long for a boy with stormy, sea blue eyes. He wore an old back tee shirt and a pair of tattered jeans.

"Davis!" For a moment, the boy looked relived as his eyes fell on the red head. That, however, was soon replaced by anger and exasperation. "Davis, where the bloody _Hell_ have you been? I mean, really, we wake up, you're gone, no note, no _anything_, and all Tai can tell us is that you were going to see some kid you met yesterday! Did you ever stop to think that it might be a _trap? _That it might have been them trying to find us? Did you ever think-"

"Hay, hay!" Davis interrupted, his hands held up in a gesture of surrender. "Matt, relax. Yes, that _might_ have happened, but it _didn't!_"

The boy, Matt, was apparently not going to let him off that easily. "Do you realize how worried we've been?" He snarled, "Poor Sora almost had an aneurism! Even Tai couldn't calm her down, and that's saying something! Joe paced so much that he actually, I kid you not, wore a grove in the ground, and Yolei thought you had left for good! I mean, jeez, you _know_ she has abandonment issues. Davis, you need to think of other-" He trailed off as his eyes fell on Ken, who was still sitting down. "Who's that?"

"That's uh, Ken." Davis looked sheepish as Ken struggled to stand up. "The kid I went to see."

Matt took in the wings. "He's…One of us?"

"Yup."

"And you just…Took him with you?" By now Ken had gotten to his feet

"Pretty much."

Matt looked as if he were going to launch in on another rant, when Ken began to sway on the spot.

"D-Davis? I d-don't feel so g-good…" And with that, the pale boy fell to the ground.

Under the veil that seemed to be covering his mind, Ken could hear muttered voices, muted words, then two lines, very clear.

"_You ran four miles after he told you he had been friggin' stabbed? _Congratulations_, you have just snatched the idiot of the year award away from Tai."_

"_Well, he technically…Flew…."_

Ken couldn't even take in how strange that sounded before he passed out completely.

b..d..b..d..b..d

The first thought Ken had as he came to was that he wasn't in his cot. No, his cot was hard and extremely uncomfortable. This surface was heard as well, but it seemed to cradle him in a way that calmed him down. He was laying on grass. Now the question was, _why_? Then the events of the past two days came pouring into him mind.

Where the heck was he?

The second this that he realized was someone was touching his arm…

_No No No No!_

He jerked it away and sat bolt upright, cradling the appendage to his chest. One thing Ken hated more than anything else was physical contact. The very idea of of it made his skin crawl. It brought back memories of doctors and needles and of being poked and pricked and probed…

"Hay, hay, calm down! I'm not going to hurt you." A soothing male voice said from his right. Ken turned slowly to face the person who dare lay a finger on him.

It was a boy much older than him, 17, maybe, 18 at most, with shoulder length dark blue hair and deep ebony eyes hidden behind thin silver glasses. A small scar cut across his cheek bone. He gave Ken a soothing smile, then spoke again.

"You know, you're going to hurt yourself more if you keep holding your arm like that."

For a moment, the winged boy had no clue what the other was talking about. Then he became aware of the throbbing pain in his upper arm. He looked to see the deep cut his uncle's knife had made.

"Oh." He whispered. "Ow."

"Yes, that's what I thought." The boy laughed, "I'm Joe, by the way."

"Hello, Joe. I'm Ken."

"Nice to meet you." Joe smiled again, then became serious. "Now, by the way you just reacted, I assume that you don't like being touched. That's okay, most of us didn't at first. But I can get rid of that cut very fast, if you'd just let me take your arm. And I'd suggest it, considering you passed out from blood loss and shock."

Ken considered this. What the boy was saying made sense. But still, he didn't know this boy…Well, he'd just have to fix that.

"What's your full name?" He asked.

Joe gave him a look of confusion, but answered none the less. "My name is Jyou Montgomery Kido the fifth (AN-I don't have a clue what Joe's middle name is, so bear with me.). I'm currently 17 years old."

Ken gave him one last scrutinizing look. "Fine" He said, handing over his injured arm.

Joe went to take it, but stopped. "May I ask what that was all about?"

"I, uh," Ken blushed. "I've been told not to let anyone touch you unless you know them. Now that you've introduced yourself, I know you. Problem solved. " Ken was mentally kicking himself. That sounded so _juvenile_.

"Ah." Joe said as if he understood, but he didn't. There was something that was definitely…_Odd_ about this boy. But they were all a little off at first, now that he thought about it.

Joe laughed. "Alright. That makes sense. But, anyway, let me fix you up." The tall boy folded his hands, as if he were praying, and Ken's eyes widened as his palms began to glow a gentle, golden color. He placed them over the deep slash in Ken's arm.

Ken experienced a red hot burning sensation, which quickly went to a comforting warmth, which soon dimmed to nothing at all. And like _nothing._ No pain, no sting, no nothing.

"Wow." Ken remarked as he looked at his newly healed skin, only a scar remaining of the once deep cut "That'll come in handy."

A smile tugged at the corner of Joe's mouth. "It does."

"I'll assume that's your…Thingy?"

At the choice of words, Joe actually laughed. "We call them gifts, actually. And, yes. Davis is part dog, you can, apparently, fly, and I heal."

"Well, thank you."

He shrugged. "Don't mention it."

"What…What do I do now?"

"I guess you should go to where the others are." The older boy pointed through the trees to the right, "Our camps over there. Just keep walking, you can't miss it."

"Alright. I will." He stood and picked up his bag, which had been next to him the whole time. "Thank you again."

"And, again, it's not a problem. When you get there, tell them I'll be over shortly. I just have to clean up here."

Ken nodded, then walked in the direction he had indicated.

The newly winged boy was in utter awe of everything. The trees, the grass, the bugs, the way the moss grew on the rocks. All the little things most people didn't notice were so clear to him, because they were the things he had missed the most. Who cared if suddenly the whole world was topsy-turvy, that he had made friends with a boy who was part dog, that a young man had just healed his arm by touching it, or that a pair of flipping _fairy wings_ were growing from his back. _He was out of that stupid, stupid, STUPID attic room. _

Ken continued walking, hoping he was going the right way, when he heard a rustling above him. He froze, imagining all sorts of horrible things in the tree tops, but he definitely wasn't expecting what did drop down.

A small girl, age 8 with cinnamon skin and dark hair tied in two braids, was hanging from the branch over his head _by a tail_. A long, brown, monkey tail. She dropped down and landed in front of him. Ken opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as the girl began to talk a mile a minute.

"Hello. My name's Rosa. Who are you? I would know, but the older kids think I'm too young to be at the meetings ." She had a musical Mexican accent. (Not an OC, she's the Mexican digidestined from season 2)

"I'm Ken-"

"Oh! I like that name! And you have pretty wings! I wish I had wings, or could control something. But all I have is this dumb tail. I like you. Want to be friends?"

Ken blinked. Had this happened yesterday, he would have completely freaked out. However, after all that had happened, he figured he could take this in stride. He smiled.

"Sure. We can be friends, Rosa. Will you show me where the, er, others are?"

"Oh, _si. _They're just over there." The tiny girl grabbed his hand and practically dragged him the rest of the way. They stopped by the edge of a clearing. In it there was a small camp fire, with 10 people sitting around it. Ken recognized Davis and Matt, who were sitting on either side of a tall boy with untamed bushy brown hair and brown eyes to match in a faded orange shirt.

"See you around!" Rosa grinned, giggled, then scurried away, her tail waving behind her.

Ken couldn't help but smile as the little girl's energy. He was about to step into the clearing, but froze as Matt began talking.

"I'm not saying we don't take him in. I'm just saying we make sure he's for real! For all we know he could be a spy for them or something."

Davis glared at the boy. "Yeah, because all spies have wings, right?"

"Well, yeah, there's that…"

"Listen guys." This was a short red headed boy sitting across from Matt, "I'm 99% certain he's not a spy. I've spoken to Joe, who has examined him, and he says that the kid has a slight case of malnutrition and hasn't been out in the sun for years-"

"Well that's obvious!" A high, girlish, somewhat nasal voice interrupted, "I mean, have you _seen _his pallet? If ever someone needed a tan, it's _that_ kid! And also-"

"Mimi?" the red head cut in, "Shut up."

The girl, who Ken still couldn't see, sniffed and muttered something that sounded like 'how rude', but was silent after that.

"Also," The boy continued, "Whatever medicine they had him on did more harm than good. I've analyzed it, and it works kind of like chemo therapy. Meaning it kills off good cells because it's trying to get rid of the bad 'cancer' cells. The problem was that the kid wasn't sick with anything, much less cancer, so the stuff made him weak enough so that his gift wouldn't show up. Whatever the stuff was, it's bad news."

"I could have told you that just by the way it smelled." Davis shuddered. "It was evil."

"Well, then." The tall brunette in between Davis and Matt had finally spoken. "If Izzy's right, and he usually is, (This got him a smile from the red headed boy) then the kid isn't a spy and we have no reason not to help him. I would like to find out more about his power, though. He can fly, the wings are obvious, but can he do anything else? I really don't want a repeat of the Wills incident."

Ken decided it was time to make his presents known. "Unless you count knowing a lot of useless information from reading too many books a power, I think the wings are it." He could have laughed at the expressions of shock on their faces. He smiled shyly. "Hello. I'm Ken."

Davis jumped up and went to his side, then swung his arm around the boys shoulders, making him wince.

"Everyone, this is Ken." He said unnecessary. Ken wiggled out from under his arm.

The brunette boy who had spoken before stood up, rolling his eyes at Davis's antics.

"Hi, Ken. I'm Tai. How are you?"

"Umm…I think extremely confused sums it up nicely…"

Tai laughed. "We'll try to fix that. But, first things first, let's introduce everyone." He indicated that Ken turn around, which he did. And came face to face with the single strangest group of people he had ever seen, not that he'd seen many or, come to think of it, any, in his life.

"Okay, how do we want to do this?" Tai addressed the group. "I could introduce you all with names only and we can do gifts later, or you could introduce yourselves with gifts, or I could do both and you give a demonstration…"

"How about you introduce names, then we say powers and give a demonstration?" Matt said, looking rather board.

"Ah. Good idea." Tai slapped the blond on the back, causing him to fall forward due to the force. "We'll start with me, I guess. I'm Tai, we don't use last names, and I can do this." The older boy pulled off one think leather glove and flicked out his hand, palm up. A small tong of flame appeared in the center of it, pulsing and dancing. He held it for a moment, before snapping his hand into a fist, extinguishing it. "I can control fire, in a nutshell."

Tai turned to the person to his right. "That's Matt, our self-proclaimed cool guy."

The blond scowled at him in a friendly fashion, then turned to Ken. He too pulled off a one of his gloves, though his were plain cloth, not leather. He touched his fingertips together and pulled up slowly. A long, thin, crystal like rod grew from them. Matt smiled and uttered one word.

"Ice."

Tai rolled his eyes at the boy, then turned to the next person. "This is Sora."

A thin girl with short auburn hair cut near her chin smiled at him. She had on a yellow sleeveless shirt with a flower pattern on it.

"Hello!" She said, searching Ken's face with soft, amber eyes. "I can do this." She held up her hand and slowly squeezed it into a fist. Ken's eyes widened as a small pebble rose from the ground and floated to her. "I'm telekinetic."

"Next is Matt's younger brother, TK." This boy would have been the spitting image of his older brother, had it not been for two things. For one, his eyes were wider, almost more innocent looking. And also, there was the big difference. This boy was covered from head to toe in a thin layer of light orange, fuzz-like fur. When he smiled, you could see sharp canine teeth glinting, and his ears were pointed in an almost elf-like fashion. A white fishermen's hat cover a mop of blond hair the same shade as his brothers. (An-Yes, I KNOW I'm kinda ripping off the X-men here, but you try coming up with a bunch of original super powers.)

The boy grinned and stood up. Then he wasn't there. Ken blinked and looked around wildly, only to find him on the other side of the clearing. Then he was suddenly standing in front of the winged boy himself.

"I'm fast." TK said, before darting back to his seat. "Very fast." Ken just nodded numbly.

"And that's my baby sister, Kari." He indicated a girl in a too small pink shirt next to TK.

"Hay, I'm not a baby anymore, Tai!" The girl did resemble her brother, almost strikingly so, having the same dark brown hair and a similar build. The girl's eyes, however, were extremely unsettling. They were like those of a cat, deep brown with horizontal slits for pupils.

"I can…" She hesitated for a moment. "I can read minds, to a certain extent."

Ken wanted to ask what 'to a certain extent' meant, but Tai had already moved on.

"The kid with the lap top is Izzy." The red headed who had spoken earlier and did, Ken saw now, have a lap top balanced on his knees, looked up and gave a little wave before looking at the screen again.

"Izzy." Tai seemed exasperated, "Show the kid what you can do."

"Oh." The boys head snapped up. "Sorry, I was-"

"In computer land. I get it." Tai finished. "Just get you demonstration over with."

The boy sighed and pulled off one of his yellow gloves (Do we see a pattern, boys and girls?) The red head held up his hand in an almost cone-like shape. Electricity crackled at his fingertips.

"Comes in handy when you need to keep a lap top charged in the middle of the woods." Ken found his unasked question answered.

"That's Mimi." It was the nasal girl who had spoken earlier. She would have turned heads in any situation. Firstly because she was rather pretty, with honey blond curls and soft brown eyes. And also because her skin was blue. Yes_, blue_. An attractive light blue, but still blue.

"I," She said in her girlish voice, "Can talk to plants."

"But she can't make them grow." Sora piped up. Mimi scowled. This was apparently a sour spot.

"This little guy's Cody." A small, serious looking boy with jade green eyes and neatly cut brown hair stared at Ken. "He doesn't talk, really." Tai continued, "But he can summon water."

The boy now identified as Cody picked up a small white board, scribbled something on it, then turned it around.

"HELLO, KEN." Was written in big block letters. Ken smiled and waved back.

"And lastly we have Yolei."

"Looks like we have something in common, hum?" The girl had long, violet hair that hung to her waist and was held out of her face by a blue bandana. But from her back grew a pair of wings. Not semi-translucent ones like his, but large, red-brown and feathered, like an over grown hawk.

"Other than the obvious," Yolei said, folding her wings neatly on her back, "I'm a clairvoyant. I can see into the future, sometimes."

Ken nodded, feeling very overwhelmed. Were all people like this? The ones he knew were not, but Sam had once mentioned something about his aunt and uncle being strange, and that most people _weren't_ like them. That…He couldn't even comprehend that. He decided that people in general were odd, and he left it at that.

"Can-"Ken faltered. "Can I have my explanation now?"

There was a moment's silence. Then everyone bust out laughing. Ken stood there, wide eyed and confused, trying to figure out what on earth just happened.

"Yes." Tai gasped, wiping away tears of mirth and sobering up quickly. "Yes, you really do need one, don't you?" He turned back to the group. "Anyone who doesn't want to hear this again, leave now."

Mimi stood up immediately, pulling Sora behind her. The blue skinned girl pulled her friend away quickly, Sora barely having time to wave over her shoulder before they were gone. Next Cody stood up, pick up the white board and jotted something down. He turned it around to show everybody.

'GOING TO SEE IF JOE NEEDS HELP. C U ALL LATER.' With that he walked away.

Yolei muttered something about checking on Rosa, then left as well.

TK grabbed Kari's hand and dragged her away. And everyone else stayed where they were. Ken sat on the ground next to Davis.

"OK." Tai began. "Might as well start at the beginning. Ken, have you ever lived in or near a place called Highton View Terrace?"

b..d..b..d..b..d

**Unknown place, unknown person**

"The boy has escaped the two agents?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Did he stop taking the repressor?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And do we know what he can do?"

"From what Agent Jennifer said, he has wings, Sir. And Agent Mortimer agrees."

"Odd. Not a very common gift at all. It will be fun to attempt to _cure_ him."

"Do we send people after him, Sir?"

"…No. No, let's let this play out on its own. With our plan, we'll have them all here in a matter of weeks, anyway."

"Yes, Sir. Whatever you say."

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Highton View Terrace?" Ken repeated. The name triggered something in the back of his mind. "Wait, I think I remember! We lived there for a while. My family. But, God, I was really little. Like, two and a half. I was three when my parents died and we were sent to my Aunts."

"Right. It's an apartment building." Tai gave Ken a securitizing look. "Do you remember what happened there?"

Ken squinted in concentration. "There was an…Explosion, wasn't there? We moved after it."

Tai nodded. "They say it was a terrorist attack. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. All I know and care about is that some people who were there and under the age of 10 turned out like us. Different. Gifted."

"Yeah_, gifted_." Matt scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Tai gave him a death glare, which he returned with equal malice.

"Anyway." The fire user continued. "Me and Kari's parents died in the attack. So did Matt's and TK's. Matt and I were 6, and TK and Kari were 2, same age as you. We were kids. We were alone and scared, and_ they_ took advantage of that." Tai stopped, unable to continue. Matt sighed and patted his friends hand. He picked up where Tai left off.

"Long story short, we were kidnapped by them and brought to a lab. They wanted to find out what was up with us, why we could do what we do. We grew up in that lab, pretty much being experimented on every day. When Tai and I were 12, we managed to escape. The four of us wandered around for a while, then we found Izzy. Next we picked up Sora, and then Joe, and so on and so forth, until we found Cody about 6 months ago. And now we found you. You can stay, if you want."

"I can…Stay?" Ken thought it was too good to be true.

"Of course. Would we be explaining this all to you if you _couldn't_ stay?" Davis looked annoyed.

"The others all have their own stories, but those aren't mine to tell." Tai finished. "Do you have any questions?"

"Just one." Ken searched for the right words. "Who exactly are _they."_

"That's part of the problem." Sighed Izzy. He had been so quiet Ken had forgotten he was there "We don't know. Are best theory is that they're some sort government organization. But for all we know they could be the terrorists, or some random group of scientists, or even a secret society of some kind. All we really know about them is that they want us. All of us."

"Then how can you tell if someone's with them or not?"

"There's only one sure sign." Said Tai. "Everyone who works for them has a tattoo on their left wrist that looks like this." He picked up a stick and drew a sideways hour glass in the dirt. "There's a color pattern too. The-"

"Left side's black. The right side's red." Ken finished in a whisper. His face had gone very pale.

"Yeah, how'd ya know?" Izzy asked, confused.

"Because," Ken croaked in a hoarse voice, "My aunt and uncle have the same one. On their left wrists."

There was complete, shocked silence in the clearing for almost thirty seconds. The all you-know-what broke lose.

"Did they see you?" Tai growled urgently. "Did they see you run away?"

Ken nodded numbly. "Just the general direction, I think."

"Crap!" Matt swore, looking wildly around. Tai, however, immediately sprung into action.

"GUYS!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "PACK UP _FAST_! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE _NOW_!"

**To be continued…**

Okay, boys and girls, let's review-

Tai- Controls fire

Matt- Controls ice

Sora- Telekinetic

Mimi-Can talk to plants

Joe- Healing

Izzy- Electricity

Davis- Is 'Part dog', superior hearing and sense of smell. Can run on all fours

Cody-Summon water.

Yolei-Bird wings, Clairvoyant.

Kari-Can read minds, cat eyes.

TK-Appearance, (Read above description) Speed

Ken-Wings, something else to be reviled later.

Ugh, this was supposed to be longer, but I had to break it up. Well, what can ya do? Oh, I know!

**REVIEW! **


	3. Things get stranger

"Go, go, go, go!" Tai hissed over his shoulder, "Come on, come one! Hurry it up!" He stopped and let everyone rush pass him, doing a feverish head count.

'1, 2, 3, 4, 5- no, wait, that's 5 and 6, Rosa's on Joe's back- 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and, oh thank God, 13. We're all here.'

They had to get out of the area. Fast. Like,_ now_. He knew how their agents worked. If they even thought they were in the premises, his family was in big trouble. He had to keep them all safe, he just _had_ to. The fire controller didn't want any of them to go through what he had gone through. What he, Matt, TK and Kari had gone through. Four words. Not fun in the least.

Tai wanted to be mad at someone. At Ken, at Davis, at _anyone._ But that wouldn't be fair. _Calm down, Taichi. Things could be much worse. We just have to move fast._

"Yo, Matt!" He said in a loud whisper, "Is everyone over there?"

"Everyone is a safe distance away but you and Cody." The blond hissed back.

Tai looked to his right. Cody stood there, stone faced and determined.

"You ready, kid?" He asked. "We need to do this fast."

Cody gave a grim nod, silent as always. Sometimes, Tai _really _wished the kid talked…

"Alright. Be ready."

Tai pulled off his glove and held hand up, igniting his pointer finger. He slowly bent down and lit the leaf on the ground. This, in turn, lit the next one which lit the next one and so on and so forth. In a matter of moments the whole clearing was up in flames. Tai held up the hand with the glove on and slowly counted to ten. Then he brought it sharply down, which was the signal Cody had been waiting for. The small boy whipped his hands around in a windmill-like fashion and brought them together with a smack in front of him. Water poured out, extinguishing the blaze.

"Nice job!" Tai congratulated. "Much better then Matt, even! I'd like to see them _try_ to pick up our sent through that!"

He turned excitedly to Cody, only the find that the boy was pale with a glazed look on his face. He swayed a bit on his feet, and would have fallen had Tai not caught him.

"You used up all your energy, you moron." Tai said softly, shaking his head. He lifted the smaller (Now knocked out) boy into his arms and walked to where the rest of his friends waited.

b..d..b..d..b..d

'Oh, my!" gasped Mimi as she saw the state of her friends. "Is he okay?"

"H-He's fine." Tai said. "J-Just used up-p-p all his e-energy."

"Tai." Matt stepped forward. "Are _you_ alright?"

"M-M-Me?" The boy let out a deranged giggle. "I'm j-just f-f-fine! G-Great, even!"

Matt sighed, rolled his eyes and messaged the sides of his nose. "Too much fire."

Ken raised his eyebrows in a questioning manor at Davis.

"Fire's like a drug to him." Davis hissed. "Anything stronger than a camp fire makes him like this. All loopy and stuff, like he's high. Matt gets the same way in the snow."

Ken nodded and watched silently. Matt lifted the still- unconscious Cody from the now very tipsy Tai's arms. He looked at the small boy and sighed.

"Rosa?" Matt asked the youngest member of the group, "Could you get off Joe? He's the only one tall enough to carry Cody."

"B-But…B-But…" Rosa's bottom lip began to tremble, then her eyes began to water. "I WANT TO RIDE!" she balled

"You can ride with me, if you want." Everyone turned in shock to Ken. "It's-" He cleared his throat. "It's the least I can do. This whole thing is kind of my fault."

Sora blinked and cocked her head to the side. "We don't blame you, you know."

"I know. But I blame myself."

The other 12 exchanged looks. Yes, this kid was _strange._

However, Rosa didn't seem to mind. She scampered down Joe's back and up Kens.

"Don't worry." She whispered. "I'll be very careful not to hurt your wings."

Ken smiled, although Rosa couldn't see.

b..d..b..d..b..d

"I…Can't believe it…" Sora's eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"Raise your hand if you agree that this is _way_ too good to be true." Groaned Joe.

"Nothing seems…Wrong with it…" Mimi ventured.

"No way, I say it's a trap."

"Matt, you think _everything's_ a trap." Tai snapped, the effects of his fire high having worn off.

All 13 children stared up at a barn. A very old but structurally sound barn. In the middle of nowhere. With nothing around it. In other words, the perfect hiding place for a group of runaway children who needed temporary shelter. Too convenient, in some peoples minds.

"It must be there for _some_ reason, right?" Blurted Yolei.

Unnoticed by the rest of them, Ken had slipped Rosa off his back and walked to the right, the little girl following at his heels.

Davis lifted his nose in the air and took a good, long smell. "No one's been here for a while. Months, years even."

"But," Kari's voice had a nervous pitch in it, "There's nothing around. There should at least be a farm house, right?"

"I think there was one, at one point." 26 eyes were suddenly on Ken, but he didn't notice. His eyes were glued to the ground. "If you look here, there's a slight indentation in the ground." He began pacing the perimeter, carefully placing one foot in front of the other to show what he meant. "Right here. Like something very heavy sat on it for a very long time. And from the size, it seems to be just about the right dimensions for-"

"A house." Izzy breathed, coming over to look as well. "He's right!"

"Then why isn't it here now?" Demanded TK.

Ken shrugged, which he discovered was very hard to do with things growing out of your back. "Search me. Maybe there was a storm knocked it down and the rubble was cleared away. Or the house was picked up and moved, they can do that, right?"

There was silence. Ken looked up slowly from his feet. Everyone was staring at him. He cleared his throat.

"Yes?"

"How did you _do_ that?" Yolei gaped.

Ken felt a red hot blush creeping up his face. "I, uh…Read a lot of mystery novels."

"Ah."

"So can we go in or not?" Wined Mimi.

"I don't see why not…" Tai mused.

Matt butted in, "I can think of a whole lot of reasons why not!"

"Yes, but you a pessimist. I'm an optimist and I say we do." the brunette turned to the rest of the group. "All in favor sat 'aye'."

"Aye!" Chorused all but Joe and Matt.

"Well…I don't know…" Joe voiced.

"Come on, Joe!" Mimi pleaded. "It'll be warm and safe and dry and you'll be able to heal Cody properly and…And…"

"Fine, fine! Aye!" the tall youth rolled his eyes. "Jeez."

"Looks like you're out numbered, Yamato!" Tai cheered. Within three seconds, Matt had him in a head lock.

"Don't. Call. Me. Yamato. Ever." He growled. "Or else."

"What, you'll freeze me, Mr. Icicle Man?"

The whole thing was about to become a full blown fist fight when Sora decided she had had enough. She lifted up her hand and sent a blast of psychic energy at the two which affectively blasted them apart. (AN- Just realized I made the red head the telekinetic. Ugh, can I rip off X-men anymore?)

"Okay, boys, play nice." She chided.

"Sorry, Sora." Both chorused at once.

Then the group disappeared into the barn.

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Tai, you're not going to set a fire." Joe glared at the shorter boy. Cody slept in the corner, healed but exhausted.

"But it might get cold!"

"May I remind you, you just had one of your worst fire highs in years? I'm not risking it!"

"Worry-wart."

"Better safe than sorry." Joe said, in a voice that implied that that phrase left his mouth often.

"Well I…You see…Fine." Tai relented, and Joe smiled, a bit smugly.

"Good."

Ken sat leaning on the wall at the far side of the barn, underneath a very unsafe-looking hayloft. He lay he head back on the wall and closed his eyes. Everything was happening so fast. Yesterday he had been a sick kid, unable to leave the house. Now he had wings and was on the run from some secret government thingy.

"What's in the bag?" Ken nearly jumped out of his skin, then turned to see, who else, Davis.

"Oh." He looked at Sam's old backpack. "Change of clothes, hoody, notebook, novel, and a picture."

"Picture?"

"Of my family." Ken answered quietly.

"I thought you hated your aunt and uncle."

"Not of them. Of my _real_ family." Seeing that he couldn't explain it, he pulled said photograph out of his bag and handed it to Davis.

"Hay, you were a cute kid!" Yolei had materialized out of nowhere and was looking over Davis's shoulder.

Ken didn't really know what to say to that.

"Is that your brother?" Davis pointed to Sam.

"Yes-"

Yolei gasped "You have a brother? Where is he? Did you just leave him there? How _could_ you-"

"He's dead." Ken said bluntly, then got up and walked away.

The purple headed girl blinked before burying her head in her hands.

"I just stuck my foot in my mouth again, didn't I"

Davis nodded. "Yup." He patted the girls arm, not unkindly. "Very badly."

"Rosa, it's time for bed." Sora called to the little girl.

"No! Nope! _No estoy cansado! _I'm not sleepy!" She said, skipping around and chanting in a sing-songy voice.

Sora sighed, than looked to Mimi, Matt and Izzy, who were standing behind her. "Help?"

"Come on Rosie!" Wined Mimi. "Sleep now?"

"No thanks."

"Well, I tried!" With that, the blue skinned girl went to talk to Joe.

Izzy rolled his eyes. "_Come o_n Rosa. I'll tell you a story, and Matt will sing to you and-"

"No!" The girl looked around the barn, and a slow smile spread up her face. "I want _Ken_ to put me to sleep."

"_Ken_?" Three voices chorused as one.

"Yeah! I like Ken."

_Well it's worth a try… _"Hay, Ken!" Sara called. The winged boy looked up and walked to her.

"Yes?"

The older girl sighed. "Rosie's being difficult, and she wants you to help her fall asleep. You up for it?"

Ken blinked. "I wouldn't know what to do."

"Oh, it's easy!" She gushed. "You just sit with her until she dozes off."

"Well, okay. Sure." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Matt elbow Izzy, and both of them snicker.

_Oh, I see._ Thought Ken, _This is one of those 'test the new guy' things I read about._

"Come on, Rosa." He took the girls hand. "Let's get some sleep."

b..d..b..d..b..d

Rosa loved Hello Kitty.

I mean she _really_ loved Hello Kitty.

The girl, like them all, had very few earthly positions, but everything she did have was done up in Hello Kitty. Her backpack, two of her three shirts, and her sleeping bag. Which she was now curled up in, eyes wide open and showing no sign of being sleepy.

_Well, Sora said to sit with her… But what else? What do I know about kids?_

So he closed his eyes and asked the question that seemed to be helping him more and more lately. WWSD. What would Sam do? His brother had tucked him in most of his life. _Just do what he did._

Ken placed his hand on Rosa's head and stroked her hair gently. He hummed quietly and tunelessly, almost like a meditation chant. Ken felt a rush of warmth up his arm, and a faint tingle in his fingertips. Within 10 seconds, Rosa's eyes began to droop. 15, they were closed all the way. By 20, her breath was deep and even. The young girl had sunk into a deep, fitful sleep.

_That wasn't too hard._ Ken thought, smiling slightly. He got up and turned, only to find that, once again, everyone was staring at him.

"What?" He asked, sounding exasperated. This was getting old.

"What did you do to her?"

"What do you mean?"

"We mean," Izzy said, electricity crackling off his body, showing how flustered he was, "That it usually takes at least three of us and an hour and a half to get Rosie to sleep. You just did it in under a minuet."

"Well, I just-"

"I'll bet it's a secondary power!" Gasped Joe.

"A wha-"

"A secondary power." Joe snapped impatiently. "Most people who have a physical gift have another one. Like how Kari has her eyes and her mind reading. Or Yolei has wings and is a clairvoyant. "

"Oh." Ken blinked. "So, what can I do?"

"I'm not sure." Yolie mused. "Hypnosis, maybe…"

"Wait!" Izzy bust out. "I think I've seen something like this before. When I was…" The boy shivered and hugged himself. "You know…"

"Yeah, we do." Sora gave him quick squeeze. "How can we test him? To see if he has the whatever-it-is?"

"Simple," Izzy shook himself back to reality. "Ken, touch Matt's arm."

Ken blinked. "Pardon?"

"Just do it!"

"Fine!" Ken walked up to Matt, who was looking a little nervous, and placed his hand on his arm. To his surprise, he felt the warm tingle he had experienced with Rosa. Matt let out a small 'Oh!' and felt his eyelids begin to droop.

"Take you hand away." Izzy commanded. Ken did so, and Matt shook himself.

"That was…Relaxing?" Said Matt.

The red head grinned, "I was right! He calms! He has a calming effect on people!"

"So…I'm a walking sedative?"

"You could think of it that way, yes." Izzy stated.

Now, Ken thought he had been rather good up to this point. He had not freaked out when he found his wings. He had not run away screaming when he had met the rest of the kids, and saw what they could do. He had even been rather good about finding out his aunt and uncle had been part of Them, whoever they were. But now…This…He really needed to be alone.

"I-be-right-back." He said in a rush and scrambled outside.

"Wait, Ken-" Davis stopped when he found a hand on his shoulder. He looked into Tai's face.

"Let him go. He needs to be alone for a while. You have to admit this is a lot to take in."

"Yeah. You right." Davis agreed, wishing he could remember his past.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Ken's wings responded with barley a thought, and before he knew it he was on the roof of the barn.

He lay back on the slanted surface and stared up at the stars, trying to remember the giant star map Sam had tacked on their wall for a while, before Jen had taken in down.

_There's Orion's belt…And the big dipper…The little dipper…And Gemini…Let's see how high you can count, Ken. One star, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…_

Had he had Davis's power, he would have smelled humans. Had he had Kari's eyes, he would have seen something.

But he had neither, so he didn't notice the four figures lurking in the woods, watching the barn…

b..d..b..d..b..d

…But they were there.

One, a girl with wild red-brown hair and a deep tan, was seated on the ground, leaning up on a tree with one leg extended and one pulled up to her chest. A deep scar slashed across her left eyebrow, a reminder of some painful memory.

Another, also female, was standing against the same tree, her eyes locked forward. She seemed to be the first girls complete opposite, having long, white blond hair pulled back into a neat braid and Irish pale skin. She was also wearing a floor length skirt where the other wore jeans.

Next to the standing girl was a small boy, also with white blond hair, who stood clutching the girls skirt for dear life. Perched on his nose was a pair of small, round glasses.

On a low hanging branch right above them, an older boy was seated, his legs dangling. He had clever looking green eyes and black hair that stood up like a hair brush.

The seated girl and the boy in the tree looked around 17, while the other girl looked to be 14 and the younger boy about 8. They were silent, watching. Then the younger girl spoke up.

"So that's Sam's brother? You can see the similarity. Don't you think, Gavin?" She asked the boy in the tree.

Said boy, now identified as Gavin, rolled his eyes. "Well, no duh, Patricia! You and Eli look alike. That's just what happens with siblings."

At the mention of his name, the little boy, Eli, squished closer to Patricia. She looked at him tenderly, then her eyes were back on Gavin.

"You think I don't know that? I mean, I'm not stupid."

"Sure you're not."

"What was that?"

"You heard me!"

"Oh, I did, you Goth wannabe!"

"Don't go there, goody-good nerd!"

"First I'm stupid, now I'm a nerd. Make up your mind!"

"I never said you were-"

"SHUT UP!" The seated girl whisper-yelled, and both shut their mouth's.

"Yes, Jun." they chorused weakly.

The four lapsed into silence once again. Then Patricia started, her hand flying to her chest. She looked at the girl called Jun with surprised eyes, then sat down next to her.

"What's wrong, Junie? What's upsetting you?"

"What?" The older girl looked in shock at the younger. "Nothing!"

A pair of eyebrows rose. "You're trying to lie to a girl gifted with empathy."

Jun sighed "Trish, sometimes I wish you'd stick to your illusions."

"Sometimes I wish I could. So what's bothering you?"

"It's just…" She let out a frustrated moan. "He's RIGHT THERE! My little brother is in that barn, less than 200 yards away, and all I want to do is run in there, give him the biggest hug ever and never let go. But I _can't_. At least, not yet, according to Genni. But…" Jun sniffled. "He doesn't remember me. He doesn't remember ANY of it. He doesn't even miss me."

"Maybe…" Trish began, "it's better he doesn't remember. He doesn't wake up with nightmares every night, like you, Eli and I do, and he's happy. Isn't that what you want?"

"Easy for you to say." Jun grumbled. "You have Eli in arms reach at all times."

"But Davis was my best friend." Whispered the blond girl. "I miss him and I want him back. But if he's happy…Well I guess I can deal."

"I miss Davis too." Piped up Eli, speaking for the first time. "He said he would teach me soccer."

Trish smiled fondly at her little brother and gave him a quick hug.

"Maybe you right, Trisha." Jun wiped away her tears.

"Guys!" Gavin interrupted, "We need to focus! Genni said to watch this group and make sure They don't get them. And we can't watch if you three are chatting it up."

"Your right." Jun sighed. "Sorry."

Gavin nodded, than reclined on his branch again. Jun put her head on the tree and Trisha resumed her earlier position. The only thing that had indicated anything had changed was that now, Eli was curled up with Jun, not Patricia.

b..d..b..d..b..d

**Same time, unknown location**

"_How did they find us? How, how, how?" I thought hysterically, looking around._

_They must have known a good deal about our powers, too, considering they attacked at dusk, when both twins are at their weakest. I can see Takuya trying to power up, and failing every time. Next to me, the small white dog Tommy had shape-shifted to cowered__._

_My gift was useless in a fight, and Takuya had told me to stay off to the side and protect Tommy. If that's all I could do right now, so be it._

_We are getting creamed, and I wince at every time one of the kids I honestly thought of as 'my boys' take a hit. _

_HOW HAD THEY FOUND US?_

_I see something small speeding towards Koichi, hitting him before he saw it coming. A surprised noise left his person, and he fell to the ground, lost to the world._

_Koji's tortured yell pierced the air as he rushed to his beloved twin's side, shaking him and begging him to wake. He got no response. I don't think he expected one. A roar of rage escaped his lips, and he would have completely pummeled them all had not the same small object that hit his brother collide with him._

_Takuya was still trying to power up, and it still wasn't working. I saw his face change as something dawned on him. It was hopeless. _

"_Zoe, run!" He screamed, before he too fell._

_I tried to do as he said. And I did, for a while. Tommy and I gave a good chase._

_Then something hit the back of my neck and I blacked out._

b..d..b..d..b..d

Kari jerked awake, breathing heavily. She thought back to the dream she had just had, then groaned. That was no ordinary dream.

Who mind had she been projected into? No one she knew, anyway.

On the other hand, maybe it _was_ just a dream. She had never done a mind projection on someone she didn't know.

She gave herself a shake and went back to sleep.

**To be continued…**

Did I just add Jun, three OC's and the frontier gang in here? Oh man, as if this plot wasn't already complicated enough…

So, thanks for reading, and **review, PLEASE**!


	4. The meeting

Thanks for my wonderful reviewers! I love you all! Enjoy!

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Ready." Joe asked.

Ken looked around him and smiled slightly. This was going to be fun.

"On your mark."

Davis was on his right, Yolei on his left, Cody next to her, and Rosa on the end. TK was sitting out because, with his power, he would win and ruin the fun. Kari was feeling sick, and all the older kids were happy to watch.

"Get set!"

His wings warmed up, giving existed buzzes and begging him to fly.

"GO!"

They were off! Ken and Yolei shot up above the tree line as Davis dropped to all fours and started to run. Rosa jumped from branch to branch using her tail, and Cody just flat out sprinted.

In the air, Yolei and Ken were trying to outdo each other, speeding up and flipping. They were evenly matched, although they flew differently. Ken was like an insect, darting and fast, his wings producing a low buzzing sound. On the other hand, Yolei's wings were silent and moved in large, sweeping motions so she soured like a bird of prey.

"What's wrong, can't keep up, Newby?" The purple-haired girl chided.

"No, I just feel bad about beating you like this." Ken put on a burst of speed and turned the corner.

"Not a chance, Bug Boy!" Yolei laughed and rushed after him.

"And there coming up to the finish line!" TK said in his best 'annoying announcer' voice, much to Kari's amusement. "It's neck and neck between Yolei, Ken and Davis! It's going to be a photo finish, folks! And the winner is…Rosa?"

Everyone blinked in shock as Rosa dropped out of a tree and crossed the finish line only a second before Davis did. She laughed, and Davis groaned.

"You mean I lost to the monkey?" He sighed, flopping to the ground.

Ken didn't think he'd ever get tired of hearing them all laugh at once.

Suddenly, Tai came crashing out from the general direction they had set up camp. (That sentence sounds weird…)

"We have a message! We got one!"

That apparently made sense to everyone but Ken, because they started to rush the pyro-kinetic to see the piece of paper in his gloved hand. However, everyone stopped within five feet of him.

"Tai, you're burning up!" Sora cried, backing up a step.

"What?" The teen questioned. "I am?" he looked down at himself, than groaned. "I _am_! Oh, come _on_! This never happens to anyone but me and Izzy!"

"That's 'cus no one else has powers like yours." Matt rolled his eyes. "Can you calm down?"

Tai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No change. "It's not working."

"Hay, Ken…"

"On it." Ken pulled off the tan gloves he had taken to wearing, and gingerly approached Tai.

In the month since he had found out about them, he had learned several things about his powers.

It only work with skin to skin contact.

The closer to the head the touch, the better it works.

Ken's hand extended, and he focused on getting that tingly feeling in his fingertips. Then he rested it on the back of Tai's neck.

_Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Burns! It BURNS! Eight, nine and TEN! Let go!_

He did so, and stuck his scorched fingers in his mouth. Everyone smiled as Tai stopped glowing and acquired the slightly sleepy expression that most people got after experiencing Ken's gift.

"Thanks, I needed that" He shook himself.

"Well, don't keep us hanging, man! What's it say?" Davis was rocking back and forth in excitement.

"It says: _We can meet in a week. Same place as always. See you than. Singed, the Tamers."_

"Yes!" Shouted TK in joy.

"I can see Jeri again." A smile tugged at the corner of Kari's mouth.

"And Takato!" Davis grinned.

Ken blinked. "Ever get the feeling you're missing something?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

Matt shook his head. "You have idea what we're talking about, do you?"

"Not a clue."

Izzy quickly explained. "We aren't the only group of gifted. We can't all stay together; it would case too much attention. There are two others that we know of. One calls themselves the Legendary Warriors. We haven't seen them in almost three years, but they're like us. Wanderers. They keep to themselves, mostly. Then there are the Tamers. They actually live in a city, because their parents didn't kick them out of the house when they found out what they…Er...Are. We try to meet them at least twice a year. And it seems" He gave a small smile. "That time has come again."

"Oh." Ken thought he understood. Well, except for one thing. "But how did we get the note?"

Mimi let out a musical laugh. "We have no idea. It drives Izzy crazy, but they just appear. Maybe it's someone's gift. The Tamers say they just leave it in a certain place and it ends up here."

Had they been listening, they might have heard quiet, muffled laughter and the hushed slap of a high five. Had they been looking, they would have seen the end of a blond braid whip by, or seen the sweep of a black trench coat. However, they weren't and they didn't.

But they happened.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Trisha and Gavin burst through the bushes to where the rest of their group was waiting. Jun smiled, her eyes crinkling, and Eli gave a cry of delight and launched himself into his sister's arms.

"Your back." He smiled up into her blue gray eyes, nearly identical to his own.

"Of course I am, Sweetie. Why wouldn't I be?" Trish asked, bemused, as she returned the hug.

Eli didn't answer, just squeezed tighter. The older girl sat down, and her brother plunked down in her lap.

Just then, Jun's cell phone beeped. She flipped it open and held it to her ear.

"Go for Fox."

_Fox, this is Storm Cloud. Is the package delivered?_

"Oh, hay J.P."

_Jun, you really should be using proper phone protocol._ The voice on the other end sounded exasperated.

"Fine, fine." Jun rolled her eyes "Yes, Storm Cloud. The package has reached the intended target."

_How'd it go?_

"Don't ask me. I didn't deliver it, Psi and Conjure did."

_Then can I get a report from one of them?_

Gavin dodged over and grabbed the phone.

"J.P, this is Gavin."

_*Sigh* You realize if this line was wire tapped you would all be dead?_

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I meant, Storm Cloud, this is Psi."

_Better. How did the mission go?_

"Good, except the bush head leader, Tai, walked in before we could hide."

_What? Did he see you?_

"Yeah, he did. We told him all about us and what we stand for, and the fact that we're stalking his group. He invited us over for lunch tomorrow." Sarcasm practically dripped off Gavin's voice. "No, of course he didn't see us! Conjure just put up the illusion that we weren't there. He had no clue."

_So the mission was successful?_

"Affirmative. You can tell Yamaki to tell his charges to expect them within the week."

_Excellent. Any chance I can talk to Conjure?_

Gavin glanced to where Trisha was still sitting with Eli.

"Sorry, she has her hands full at the moment. Firework still gets separation anxiety."

J.P made a sympathetic noise. _Poor kid._

"Yeah."

_So, keep safe, all of you. We'll contact you if another mission comes along. Storm Cloud, out._

"Psi, signing off."

Gavin snapped the phone shut and tossed it to Jun, who caught it.

"We better get ready to move."

"YES ma'am!"

Without even looking up, Jun hit him upside the head.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Ken was curled up in a ball, reading his book for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He already knew who had committed the murder, and why, and how the hero would be captured and almost die but get out of it using his wits. Actually, he could probably give you a very detailed, very accurate plot summery, and knew some parts by heart.

He felt a presents next to him, and turned to see Yolei. She had plopped down next to him, but was staring forward as if he wasn't there. He was about to turn back to his book when the girl spoke up.

"Why do you keep reading that?" She asked.

"Hum?" Ken blinked and looked at her. "Oh. I guess it reminds me of my brother."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence, then Yolei blurted,

"I'm really sorry about what I said the first night you were here. I just have this problem; you see I have a tendency to blurt things. I'm always sticking my foot in my mouth and I'm really sorry I said that about you and your brother and-"

"Yolei-"

"I can totally understand if you hate me forever and-"

"YOLEI!"

"What?"

"I forgive you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, of course I do. How could you have known?"

"Oh." Yet another awkward silence, yet again broken by Yolei.

"Tell me about him."

"Who?"

"Your brother. I want to know."

"Uh, okay." Ken shut his eyes, looking dreamy, than started talking. "He was smart. Really smart. Probably a genus, though Auntie never had him tested. He was brave, at least in front of me. He always looked out for me, and he liked teaching me stuff. He had this book with mysteries and logic puzzles, and I still do them. He told me about the outside a lot. He wanted to make sure I knew what was out there, even if I couldn't see it. I miss him." He shut his eyes sadly, then his lips twitched in the tiniest of smiles. "On the other hand, he might have not been so great. All little boys think their big brothers are the best, right?"

Another silence, this time companionable. This time, Ken spoke up.

"Tell me about them."

"Who?"

"Them." The winged boy waved a hand to indicate all the gifted, who were scurrying around and packing things up. "All of them. I want to know."

"Tell me what you've figured out, Sherlock." Yolei smirked.

"Alright." Ken was never one to back down from such an obvious challenge. "Tai's the leader."

"Is that really all you have?" Raised eyebrows on Yolei's part.

"I'm not done. Tai's the leader, but Matt's his second in command and the only one who can put him in his place. They fight all the time, but that's their weird way of showing they like each other. It's also because they're both Alfa males. Izzy is the 'techie'. He's the most intelligent one in the group, if a little anti-social. Joe is a pessimist and worry-wart, but he keeps everyone cautious and heals people when there're hurt. Sora's the mother figure, and Mimi is a drama queen and a princess, but she keeps the mood happy and cheers everyone up. Kari's like a light, she keeps everyone looking to the bright side, and TK's an eternal optimist. Cody's something you never notice until it's gone, they you realize how important it is. He keeps people grounded. From what I saw, Davis is being trained to be the leader if anything happens to Tai, and he has this attitude that makes people believe they can do anything. So, how am I doing so far?"

Yolei looked impressed. "Better than I thought you would. But, what about me?"

"You?" Ken pursed his lips. "You're approachable. People come to you to talk, and they trust you to listen and keep it a secret."

"Oh." The girl was flattered. "But, it you figured all that out, what do you want me to tell you?"

"I want to know…" Ken squirmed "I want to know what made them like that."

Yolei's face went _completely_ blank. "You mean what happened in their pasts."

"Well…Yes."

No response.

"Unless, of course, it's some big secret. In which case, you don't have to answer." Ken added hastily.

"No." The girl took a deep, deep breath. "No, you deserve to know. And I'll tell you, but not in a lot of detail."

"I don't want detail."

"Good." Yolei shut her eyes, and began. 'I assume that Tai told you his, Matt's TK's and Kari's…Thingy?" A nod from Ken. "Alright. As for the rest…" She sighed. "I don't even know where to start."

"How about the beginning?"

"I guess I'd better. Well, the first person they found was Sora. Long story short, when her powers came out her mom verbally abused her, slapped her than kicked her out of the house. She had kinda been wandering around for a while when they found her. Luckily, Tai and Sora had been friends before the whole incident started, so she trusted him enough to come with them. Next was Izzy, I think. He was…" Yolei swallowed thickly. "He was in a freak show. You know, like a circus? I think they actually had to break him out…They never talk about in much. Are you still following?"

Ken nodded.

"Okay. I'm pretty sure after that was Joe. His…His father tried to beat it out of him. Than left him out in an ally to die. I think Sora found him, and it was a good thing he could heal himself, or he would have died. Uh, Mimi next. Her story is almost like a fairy tale. When she turned blue, her parents, they were filthy rich, just had her stay inside their mansion. She says they even built this huge wall around the garden so she could go outside. But, when she was 12, her house burnt down and her parents died. Then the group found her."

"Kinda sounds like my story. Minus the psychotic Aunt and Uncle and the dead brother."

"Yes, you're right, a bit. Now, I'm sure Davis told you about his memory loss, so we don't know much about him. And as for Cody," She stopped and sighed. "THEY wanted him. His father tried to protect him, and they slaughtered the man in fount of the poor kid. As far as we know, the only thing he's said since then was 'My name is Cody.' Poor kid. And Rosa just showed up one day." She paused again, thinking. "That's all, I think."

"No."

"Who'd I leave out?"

Ken looked her right in the eyes. "You."

"M-Me?" She stuttered.

"Unless you don't want to tell me."

"No. No. I will. You should know." She shut her eyes, and didn't open them until she was finished talking. "My wings just popped up one day. And, surprisingly, my family was really good about it. They were even making a plan to move to the country so I could fly. But then some weird guy in a suite showed up at the door. He said to 'Hand me over,' but my parents refused. He said they'd be sorry." She stopped to breathe, than launched back into her story. "The next morning, I woke up and…And they were all gone. No sign of a struggle, but my mom, my dad, my two sisters and my brother were gone. I freaked out, flew aimlessly for days until I clasped, then the gang found me. The end." There were tears in the girl's eyes.

Ken looked distressed, then reached over and gave her a quick, rather awkward hug. He pulled away quickly, unused to the contact. Yolei blushed.

"What was that for?"

"I-I don't like seeing people sad." He averted his eyes.

There was a pause.

"You're very kind, you know that?"

Then she got up and walked away, leaving Ken to digest her words.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Tai stood up. "Alright men-" Sora cleared her throat "-And women-" He allowed, rolling his eyes, "We all know the drill. Let's get going."

After a week of heard walking (Mimi- For Gosh sake, could we just rent a CAR?) the little clan had at last arrived right outside the city they were to meet the Tamers in.

"Uh," Ken raised his hand, "I don't know the drill."

"Oh." Tai blinked. "Davis, show the newbie the drill."

Davis snapped to attention and grinned, than grabbed Ken's arm. "Yes, Sir!" Tai rolled his eyes again.

"Alright." Davis said when they were out of earshot of the others. "The drill is that we have to hide all physical differences when we go into the city."

Ken blinked. "_That's_ the drill? After all the dramatics, _that's_ the drill?"

"Well…Yes." There was a pause. "You said you had a hoodie, right?"

"Yes."

"Does it cover your wings?"

"I believe so, but my aunt wasn't fooled."

"Let's see it, then."

Ken went for his back pack and pulled out the sweat shirt. He winced as he folded his wings into an extremely awkward position.

"I really hope these things don't crease." He muttered under his breath.

When it was on, he stood up strait and looked at his friend,

"Well?"

"Humm…" Davis circled him. "It'll do. But, if anyone asks, you have sco…Scol…"

"Scoliosis?" Ken offered.

"That's the ticket!" Davis grinned. "I'm lucky. All I have to do is out ear and nose plugs to muffle everything."

Ken watched in interest as everyone else got ready. Yolei was also lucky, since her wings folded up neatly on her back. She put on a long yellow trench coat to hide them. Tai, Matt, Izzy, Joe, Sora, Ken and Cody all wore gloves, and Kari put on a pair of sunglasses to hide her eyes. Rosa put on pants with no slit for her tail, and then tied a sweater around her waist to hide the lump. But TK and Mimi were a bit trickier.

Mimi smeared flesh colored foundation all over her face, then pulled a pink hat over her forehead. She also tied a scarf up over her nose and put on sunglasses.

TK wore a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. He, too, wrapped a scarf around his neck up to his nose, and he kept his head down. Both looked passable.

After a quick inspection from Tai, they all continued walking to the city.

b..d..b..d..b..d

The warehouse was filthy.

It was old and abandoned and had nothing in it but a few empty boxes and A LOT of dust.

Ken, however, decided he loved the place as soon as Tai said he could take off that horrible sweatshirt.

His wings stretched gratefully, and he rose a few feet in the air to test them. Then he settled down on the floor and stretched out.

"And now," Sighed Joe, "We wait."

"I _hate _waiting." Wined Davis.

"Well you don't have to wait much longer, Goggles-for-Brains." A new voice, a drawling, sarcastic female one, had suddenly entered the mix.

The group at large spun around, and several were pulling off their gloves in preparation to blast whoever it was. But everyone stopped when they saw who had spoken.

A girl, 12 maybe 13, stood there with her arms crossed, looking very pleased with herself. She had wild red hair held back from her face in a tight pony tail, and was wearing a white tee shirt with a broken heart on it with a pair of jeans.

"Rika." Matt said, icily.

"Hair Gel." The girl named Rika replied, just as coldly.

"Where are the others?" Tai cut in. Weather he said it because he actually wanted to know or because he wanted to stop Matt from strangling the girl was unclear.

"They sent me in first. You know, to make sure you're really here, that you're really you, stuff like that." The girl sounded almost board. "And since you apparently are, I'll go get them." And then she just seemed to…Flicker out of existence. (You know, what Renamon does.)

"Uh, who was that?" Asked Ken.

"Rika." Izzy sighed. "A girl with the gift of teleportation."

"And a massive pain in the butt." Growled Matt.

"Aww, I love you too." The girl had flickered back into the room, this time with several people with her.

"Takato." Tai had walked up to a short boy with sandy brown hair held out of his face with a pair of goggles, almost identical to Tai's and Davis's. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too Tai." The two shook hands.

"Kari!" a brunette girl in a green dress rushed over to the mind reader, a huge smile on her face.

"Jeri!" The two embraced.

"Are you well, Henry?" Izzy questioned a dark haired boy.

"As good as to be expected." The boy sighed.

Suddenly a small, pink haired girl popped out from behind Henry.

"Who's he?" She asked, pointing at Ken.

"Suzy, that's rude!" The boy, who was obviously her older brother, scolded her. "Sorry about that." He apologized to Ken. "She's…Young. I'm Henry. What's your name?"

"Ken."

"Hum, so you picked up another stray." Rika said indifferently.

"Yup." Davis said proudly. "Everyone, this is Ken. Ken, this is Takato, Rika, Henry, his little sister Suzy, Jeri and…You guys are missing 3."

"Uh, yeah." Takato rubbed the back of his head. "Ryo got grounded."

"Couldn't he have snuck out? I mean, the guy can walk through walls."

"Which is why his father won't leave him alone for a second."

"Oh." Davis was quite for a moment. "Then where are the other two?"

The five looked at each other, uncomfortably.

"Kazu and Kenta disappeared two weeks ago." Henry whispered.

b..d..b..d..b..d

'_Sir, we have a visual on the targets.'_

_**Good, good.**_

'_Should we move in, sir?'_

…_**No. Not quite yet. But soon. Just a few more minutes.**_

'_Yes, sir. We are waiting for your word.'_

b..d..b..d..b..d

"What do you mean they disappeared?" TK asked, eyes wide.

"I mean they vanished. Poof. Went to sleep and were gone the next morning." Jeri said sadly.

"Oh."

This unsettled everyone, but all tried to forget about it. They talked about stupid things like the weather and rising gas prices, (Well, Izzy and Henry talked about rising gas prices. The others just tried to tune them out) anything to get their minds off the fact that two gifted were missing.

"Tai." Matt whispered, "We should probably get going. We still need to go on a supply run, and we're not going to have time if we stay here much longer."

Tai glanced at his extremely battered watch, and sighed. "You're right. We should go."

"Yo!" Matt yelled to the room at large. "The Chosen are leaving in five minutes, so say goodbye!"

"Aww, do we-" But Davis never got to finish his complaint. At that moment, windows shattered and men started pouring in at ever entrance.

"It's THEM!" Kari shrieked.

Tai's eyes widened for a moment, them his fetchers hardened. "Takato, get your people _out_ of here."

"What? But, Tai-"

"You _heard_ me! Now, Takato!"

"But-" The boy stopped and swallowed thickly. "Fine." He said in a whisper, the looked up and yelled, "Rika, NOW!"

Her mouth set, but with a shimmer of sadness behind her eyes, Rika complied. Making sure every Tamer was touching her, she flickered them all out.

The remaining 13 had all backed up into a cercal, with Rosa in the middle.

"What do you want?" Tai growled.

"You." A man who was clearly leading the operation said, with a chilling smile. "All of you. So, hand yourselves over, and maybe we'll go easy on you freaks."

"Don't think so." Matt said, slowly peeling off his gloves.

"Couldn't agree with you more, Buddy." This was Tai again. His eyes narrowed. "Give them all you've got, guys. If we go down, we go down fighting."

"This is only going to make this harder on you." The man said coldly.

"Who said we'd make it easy?" Davis shot back.

"Alright, if you're sure." The man smirked. Then he spoke one word, so quietly it was surprising any of the men heard it. One word, which would change 13 people's lives and would, eventually, end one. A single word, which wound up destiny and changed history and started something no one would ever forget.

"Attack."

Ken and Yolei instinctively took to the air, while Davis fell into an almost feral squat, bearing his teeth. Tai's, Matt's and Izzy's gloves were off and they were sending blasts of fire, ice, and electricity (respectively) at any of the solders they could see, and Sora was sending out powerful psychic waves in every direction. TK had pushed Kari behind him, and everyone else was using fists and feet to do as much damage as humanly possible.

"We're not doing all that badly!" Ken thought in surprise as he dive bombed yet another man. "Could we actually win?"

Unfortunately, 13 on 106 are not good odds, even when the 13 have supernatural powers.

Sora was the first down, and her scream pierced the air like a knife. All heads turned as she fell, seemingly in slow motion. Tai roared in rage and ran to her, but was hit by the whatever-it-was too.

It was all downhill after that.

Joe was hit. Mimi. Cody.

'Alright, maybe we won't win.' Ken thought glumly.

Suddenly, there was a high pitched, girlish scream. Ken whipped around in midair to see Rosa being cornered by three men, and, without thinking, dove to get her out of the way. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and he fell, down, down, down into darkness and to the floor.

b..d..b..d..b..d

_Sir, all targets have been incapacitated._

_**Good, good. Load them all up and get here as soon as possible. Any casualties?**_

_Umm, Johnson has some minor burns, Kelly has a mild case of frost bite, several very slight electrocutions, a couple of bite marks, and Marten is going to have a migraine for weeks. That's it, though. _

_**Excellent. And the other group?**_

_Got away, Sir. They have a teleporter._

_**Ah. Well, no matter. They would have been only a bonus, but we have the prize. **_

_We'll be back shortly, Sir._

_**Wonderful…**_

b..d..b..d..b..d

The beautiful day had turned for the worst, the blue sky turning into stormy gray and eventually leading to rain. People had dropped what they were doing and went back home, or ran to the cover of a shop or a bus stop.

The streets were almost empty.

No one noticed the large, unmarked gray truck that glided silently out of town. And certainly, if someone did see it, they _never_ thought it was carrying human cargo.

No one noticed the four people tailing said truck, 3 teenagers and a child. A boy in a black trench coat, a girl with out-of-control red-brown hair and a younger girl with a long, blond braid who had a much younger boy on her back.

No one noticed.

But they happened.

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Hay! Watch it, Jun!"

"Sorry Gav, it's dark."

"Well, no shi-" Gavin was abruptly silenced as Trisha clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Now, Gavin," she said, sweetly, "let's keep in mind that there are children in the- EWWW!" The girl jerked her hand away as if it had been burned. "He _licked_ me!"

"Well, that's what you get for covering my mouth."

"He _licked_ me!"

"Was that really necessary, Gav?"

"Yes. Yes it was."

"Jun, he _LICKED_ me!"

The older girl rolled her eyes. "Guy's, shut up. We're almost too where the truck went."

At that moment, they exited the woods and were on the top of a hill, overlooking a round, concrete building surrounded by barbed wire. The truck they had been following drove in the gate before it was closed again. This place was very familiar to the four.

Horribly familiar.

"Oh, God…" Jun chocked out.

"Is that-" Whispered Gavin in a strangled tone.

Jun mutely nodded.

"Crap."

Eli, who had been silent up to this point, suddenly burst into tears and flung his arms around his sister's waist.

"You promised we'd never come back here, Trishie." He sobbed. "You _promised!_"

Trisha, for once, could not comfort her brother.

"_Senior servo nostrum animus_" She whispered, her face stricken with fear.

Slowly, very slowly, Gavin reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He hit a speed dial number and held the phone to his ear.

"Hay, J.P?" He said, him mouth dry, "We have a situation…"

**To be continued…**

******* **Senior servo nostrum animus- Latin for "Lord save our souls"**

**Alright! Another chapter done! And, did you see that bit between Yolei and Ken? Yeah, that's going to be the closest thing to romance in here. Wait, scratch that. I have Kari sobbing in TK's arms next chapter, but that's it! Hope you all enjoyed it.**

**REVIEW! **


	5. Caught!

Sorry sorry sorry this is so late! Writers block! But I have found my inspiration once again! SO, enjoy!

b..d..b..d..b..d

J.P's official title in the organization was 'communications technician'. Meaning he passed on messages from the higher up's to the lowers downs, checked in on the field teams, and sometimes did miner research. And right now, he was doing the last option. He didn't know why, but something in Gavin's voice had disturbed him, and he wanted to find out why. He punched in their location in his computer and hit the 'Enter' key. The boy began to scan the page.

**Area 1327**

**A different branch of the Other** **Agency, focused not on research of gifted, but of turning them into solders. Their goal is to create a gifted that will listen to their orders and their orders alone. They rely on mental torture and scare tactics to break their victims, although they have not been successful as of yet.**

J.P blinked. It was disturbing, yes, but no reason for Gavin's voice to have cracked like that. At least, that's what he thought before he saw the note at the bottom of the page.

**Known survivors- Patricia Morgan, Eli Morgan, Gavin Paan, Jun** **Motomiya, Davis Motomiya**

"Crap." J.P muttered, eyes wide. "Crap, crap, _crap_!" He then whispered a few word a bit stronger then 'crap', took a swig of water, and then dialed a number in a key pad.

"Gennai, sir?" He said a bit breathlessly into his headset, "We have a slightly bigger problem than we first thought…"

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Ughhh…" Ken groaned. His head hurt. No scratch that, his whole _body_ hurt. What the hell had happened? He could remember the warehouse, meeting Takato and the others, and…and…

_The attack_.

Ken sat bolt upright, and instantly regretted it. His head gave a sickening pound, and wave of pain crashed over him, from his toes to the tips of wings. His wings…

…He couldn't move them.

The boy began to panic. He had barely had the appendages for a month, yet he could not imagine life without them. Not being able to fly would be akin to going back to live in the attic room. He moved his hand up to his back, to find a mesh net covering it. The thing successfully immobilized his wings, and also caused most of the pain he was in at the moment.

Alright. He was okay. A bit battered and slightly bruised, but okay. Slowly, Ken moved himself around so he was facing the rest of them.

They were in a sort of cage, not very large but big enough for them all to fit. Wait, no, not all of them. Only 7. Yolei, Kari, TK, Rosa, Davis and him. The older kids must be somewhere else.

"Davis!" Ken hissed, kicking out with his legs to the closest of his comrades. "Dai, wake up!"

"Humgh?" He grunted, tried to sit up, but clasping back down almost immediately. "Anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?"

"Davis! They got us!"

"What!" This time, he really did sit up. "Dam it." He hissed, closing his eyes to the pain and horror of the fact they were in a cage.

"TG! Come on, you stupid moron, get the hell up!"

The next several minutes passed in this fashion, until all seven of them were sitting, stunned. However, it was Yolei who summed up the whole situation perfectly.

"We're totally screwed, aren't we?"

b..d..b..d..b..d

"I can't believe it…I can't frickin' believe it…This just can't be happening…"

"Matt."

"This is a dream…I'm dreaming, yeah, that's it…"

"_Matt._"

"Any second I'll wake up and be back in the woods…Or the warehouse…or the-"

"MATT!"

The blond snapped his head up as he stopped his frantic pacing to where Tai sat on the ground, Sora's semi-concise head in his lap.

"You're not helping, Matt." The brunette's eyes were strangely glassy, as if he weren't quite all there.

With a sigh of defeat, Matt slid to the floor and took in the rest of his friends. Mimi was sobbing on to Joe's shoulder while he rubbed soothing cercal on her back. Izzy leaned back, his eyes closed as if trying to block the whole situation from his mind.

"Tai?" The boy looked up.

"How the heck are we going to get out of this one?

b..d..b..d..b..d

"You guys ready?"

Jun looked at the three behind her. Trisha was biting her lip, but looked determined. Gavin's mouth was set. And Eli…Just clutched his sister's hand as tightly as he could.

"Remember the plan. Get in, free the charges, and get the hell out. Got it?"

Nods all around.

"Alright." She sighed. "Let's get this over with."

"Jun?" The girl turned to find Trish at her shoulder. "Are you going to tell him?"

Jun mind flitted back to the conversation they had just with Genni. The permission he had given, to finally make her brother remember who he was. But there was that question…Did she want him to remember?

_All you need to do is tell him your name and who you are, and his mind will be unlocked._

She didn't know.

"I'm thinking." She told Trisha, then the four began the descent down the hill to begin the mission.

b..d..b..d..b..d

"I-I can't b-b-believe this is happening again." Kari sobbed in TK's furry arms.

No one wanted to talk. No one wanted to do anything. They just wanted out of there.

Ken's limbs itched. He had never realized this about himself, but he was extremely claustrophobic. He longed to stretch out, to stand, to _fly._

_Deep breaths, Ken. Calm down. You're no use to anyone freaked out. _

The winged boy was startled out of his thoughts by the feeling of his shirt being tugged. He looked down to see Cody looking up at him, looking panicked. He gestured wildly. Ken felt a pang of sympathy as realization swept over him.

Somewhere in all the confusion, Cody had lost his whiteboard. He had no way to communicate.

Ken smiled slightly and nodded his understanding. He turned.

"Hay, Davis-"

However, something seemed to be wrong with him. He was staring, glassy eyed, as if he were somewhere else.

"It's weird…" He muttered. "I feel like I've been here before…"

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Come on! Quick!" Jun pulled Gavin around the corner, followed closely by Trish and Eli.

"This place is even creepier than I remember it." Trish remarked with a shudder.

"The mission." Gavin said in a monotone. "We're concentrating on the mission."

Suddenly, Jun froze. "Hide!"

"What?"

"Someone's coming, I can smell them! Hide!"

The other three had known the girl long enough to have learned to trust her nose. Eyes darted around, looking for a hidden place.

"Up." Eli stated. All looked. There was a small ledge above them, a perfect place to watch but not be seen.

Trisha gave her little brother a proud smile as they quickly clambered up.

And just in time. A man, a boy, and two guards rounded the corner. The man was tall and pale, and a curtain of greasy black hair covered his face.

"Owikawa." Jun growled.

The boy looked about 14, maybe 15, with creamy skin, short blue-black hair and deep blue eyes. He was being forcibly frog-marched by the two guards.

Trisha's breath caught in her throat. "That boy draws his power from darkness."

Jun turned to her, than hissed, "Well, what does that mean?"

"I'm not sure yet…"

The boy spoke up "I won't do it. Whatever you want me to do, I won't do it." The voice was quavering but resolute.

Owikawa froze, than spoke. "Oh, you won't, will you?"

"No. I won't hurt anyone."

"Yes, but I will." The man leaned in closer the younger. "Your friends? That boy who keeps yelling, it would be delightful to break his spirit. I'm sure that pretty blond girl's screams are delicious. That sweet little boy, how much torture do you think he can take? And, oh who am I forgetting? Oh, yes, your little look-alike." A sick smile twisted his lips. "I can do so many things to shatter a child of light…"

The boy's eyes had been getting wider at each mentioned person, but at the last sentence his eyes went black. As if the pupils had swallowed up the blue irises.

"If you touch him," his voice had become deeper and raspier, and seemed to have an odd echo behind it. "If you so much as lay a finger on him, I will make sure you die a slow, painful death."

"Oh, but you can't do anything with that pretty little ring around your neck, can you?" Owikawa smirked. "Unless I tell you that you can. So the only thing keeping your poor twin safe is you obeying me."

The boy seemed to deflate. "I hate you."

"Hn. I don't care." The man turned to the guards. "Take him to the older ones, have him work his powers on them. I'm going to the youngers. I have an old friend to visit." Jun stiffened. He was talking about Davis.

The four below them then split up, three going one way and one going the other.

"Okay. We're splitting up." Jun stated. "Gavin and I will follow Owikawa-"

"No." Trisha interrupted.

"What do you mean, no?"

"Look Jun. I respect you and think you're a great leader for this team. But I am using my 'One With the Most Common Sense' card and over ruling you. He said he's going to see the younger kids. That means Davis will be there." The younger girl looked her friend right in the eyes. "You are not ready to see him."

Jun thought a moment, then smiled. "Heh. Guess you're right."

"Let's go."

b..d..b..d..b..d

"Ken?"

Ken looked down to see Rosa looking up at him.

"Yes?"

"Ken…Why don't they like us?"

The winged boys eyes widened at the question. "What do you mean?"

"Well…My parents made me leave when my tail grew in…And we all need to hide, and now we're here. They don't like us. Why?"

Ken's eyes softened as he looked at the little girl. "Well, Rosie…We're different. There's no denying that, we are. And people…Well, most people are afraid of things that are different. If they don't understand it, they assume it's bad and try to get rid of it."

"Oh." She went quite. "But we're not bad, right Ken?"

Ken forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat. "No, Rosa. We're not bad."

Apparently satisfied with this answer, she went to sit next to Cody.

Ken sent a worried glance in Davis's direction. He had just been staring for the past ten minutes.

"Dai?" Ken leaned over to touch his shoulder. "Davis, are you alright?"

"It's like…" the wolf boy still didn't look at his friend. "It's like this place is trying to tell me something. Like it knows something. But I don't know _what_."

A deep, dark chuckle floated from outside the cage. "So it's true. The unbreakable Davis had forgotten the people who kept him alive." A tall, dark man stepped into the dim light. "You really can't recall any of them?" he taunted. "Not that little boy who called you brother? Or the moody older boy who guarded you as if you were his own? That blond girl who I'm sure was in love with you? And oh, my dear boy, did you really forget your _sister?_"

"Sister?" Davis whispered, mystified. He…He had a _sister_?

"And you," The man turned to Ken. "look just like your brother."

Ken froze. "What do you know about Sam?" He hissed.

"Know him?" The man smirked. "I'm the reason he's not here now."

Ken lost it.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" He shrieked, launching himself at the bars. "You…You took him away." He slumped down to the floor.

The man smirked. "Oh, yes. I took him away." He sighed. "I was so close, too. His sprit was _perfect _for what I needed, but his power just a _smidge_ off." His eyes got an insane glint in them. "But yours….Yours _is_ perfect." Faster than what seemed humanly possible, he unlocked the cage, grabbed Ken's wrist and yanked him out.

"NO!" Davis leaped towards his friend, only to find his way blocked by steel bars. And then the two were gone. "No…" He sank to his knees. Yolei came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, to see tears swimming in her eyes as well.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Koichi allowed himself to be pushed down hallway after hallway, keeping his head down. Under normal circumstances, every one of these men would be in fetal positions on the ground, begging for mercy. And, oh how he wanted to release the full power of Lowe…But, no, with how angry he was right now, it wouldn't be Lowe. It would be Dusk. _Even better._

But, with this _stupid_ ring on his neck, he doubted he could have harmed a fly if he wanted to. And then there was Owikawa's threat…

_Zoe…Tommy…Takuya…And Koji…_

No, Owikawa had him right where he wanted him, and he knew it. But working his powers on innocents…And people who might have pasts just as bad, if not worse, than him and the others…He shuddered to think about it.

But his friends…His _family_…

"We're here."

Koichi looked up, to see a cage full of teenagers looking at him warily.

_Oh, God no…_

It was the Chosen. The one of the other 'tribes' of gifted. It had been years…They were all older…But, yes, it was most definitely them.

_And they want me to…_

"Do your stuff." One of the guards sneered in his ear. Koichi felt the power on the collar lessen considerably.

_Think of them, Koichi. Zoe, Tommy, Takuya. Zoe, Tommy, Takuya. Koji, Koji, Koji. This is for them._

He approached the cage, and looked at them all with extreme sorrow in his eyes.

"Forgive me." He muttered, than held out his hands.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Tai looked up as a scrawny kid was jerked into the room. Large blue-gray eyes, short cut dark hair, and a distinctive air of…_Familiarly_ about him.

_Where have I seen him before?_

Maybe…He kind of looked like Ken? No, that wasn't it.

Now the boy was walking towards them.

No…It couldn't be. He looked like one of the twins from the Legendary Warriors. But that would mean Takuya's group had been captured, and that couldn't happen, right?

He whispered something… "Forgive me."

Oh, god…It _was_ Koichi.

They were screwed, was Tai's last thought before he fell into darkness.

b..d..b..d..b..d

Once again, SORRY this was so late! I promise the next one will be faster!

REVIEW, please!


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